Utah man charged with sodomy of a child who he allegedly married

Utah man charged with sodomy of a child who he allegedly married (Photo: KUTV)

SANPETE COUNTY, Utah (KUTV) — John Coltharp, who is accused of child kidnapping is now facing charges of sodomy of a child.

According to Sanpete County Deputy Attorney, Kevin Daniels, Samuel Shaffer told detectives he was betrothed to Coltharp's daughter, and John Coltharp was betrothed to Shaffer's daughter. Both between the age of 7 or 8.

Deputy Attorney Daniels also told 2News both Shaffer and Coltharp also allegedly married their own 4-year old daughters.

"At this point, we don't have any evidence that the four-year-olds were abused but we will certainly investigate that to the fullest," Daniels said.

During the interview, Shaffer admitted that as part of the process, he examined the genitals of Coltharp's daughter to confirm if her hymen was still intact. Shaffer claimed it was not.

On Dec. 5, 2017, a search warrant was served at three locations, including the storage containers used as their residence.

One container was used by Coltharp's mother and the two boys, one was used by Coltharp and the girls, and the other was used by Shaffer and the girls. The other locations were a single, wide mobile home trailer where two of the children were located. The third area was called "the junkyard," which contained three Conex storage containers, according to court documents. This is the area in which the other two girls were found in 55-gallon blue water barrels.